


¿ǝɹnʇnɟ ɹnoʎ ǝǝs oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ oᗡ

by Bonsaiiiiiii



Series: Random [3]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25830346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonsaiiiiiii/pseuds/Bonsaiiiiiii
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Random [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874194
Kudos: 4





	1. Part I

"When I talked about making the most of our free time, I certainly didn’t have that in mind!" Scott snorted, looking his brother right in the eye, before returning to look in front of him just in time before he slammed into a streetlight. Virgil had taken him to the local rides. Nothing less than the local rides.

"Come on," Virgil replied, smiling slightly, "what’s the harm in having fun once in a while?"

"I’m still trying to figure out what you’ve been smoking. We usually use our free time making upgrades to our ships, and not by riding a horse or on the slide! How did you come up with that idea?"

"I don’t know...I just wanted to feel...like before. No thoughts, no worries, no..."

"Responsibilities." ended Scott in his place, sighing slightly. "All right, let’s stay at the rides, but know that I won’t get on the swing."

Virgil brought a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended. "No, you make me feel sad!" 

"Sorry, kid, do I have to take your hand?" answered the other with a sarcastic tone.

And between sassy discussions, eye rolls, and a few mocking jokes the two officially set foot in the park, more precisely in the children’s playground.

"Have fun baby! Don’t go too far away and don’t talk to strangers!" Scott sarcastically recommended him, but all he received in return was a deep laugh from Virgil and some odd glimpses from the few mothers who were there to watch over their children. Smiling as well, he went to sit on a nearby bench that had remained empty, and Virgil went after him.

"What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to play?"

"Stop it, Scott-" replied Virgil, sitting next to him and playfully slapping his arm. " -I don’t need to climb the slide like I did when I was a kid to feel like then; even being here doing nothing frees my mind from all the thoughts we have at home, from International Rescue."

Scott simply nodded without saying a word. He began to understand why Virgil wanted to come here, and seeing himself as a child swinging on the swing cleared his mind of thoughts. His brother knew what he was doing, like always.

They both remained silent for a while, sitting close to each other, reminiscing the good times spent as children and forgetting for 10 minutes the work they did, the responsibilities they had. Both of rescuers and family figures. They also remembered their father and, as if one were reading into the mind of the other, both smiled melancholy in unison.

Scott sighed deeply, and Virgil took that moment to speak. "In fact, you know what? I’m going to sit on the swing cause you’re mean and you’re making fun of me!"

Scott laughed out loud and facepalmed. When he stopped, he looked at him subtly. "Just don’t weave it with the others as you did when you were a child."

"Please, that was Gordon! I used to break them all the time."

"Because you jumped on them."

"Shh, enough with the details. You’re embarrassing me."

"Whatever. I’ll go down to the bar and get a beer, try not to mess up."

Virgil laughed. "FAB."

That’s what Scott was like. Having to make recommendations even to his younger brother, who though he was younger, he was old enough to take care of himself. 

Eventually Scott headed to the sidewalk, looking to one side and the other to avoid being run over by some car, then crossed the road, heading in no time to the nearest bar, which was right in front of the park. He tried to get air by waving his shirt as he passed, mentally noting how hot it was; the beer had to be frozen, at least.

When he entered the bar he stopped for a moment to think. And he returned to the park with two slushies in his hands. As soon as he set foot in the playground, his eyes automatically turned to the swings, where Virgil was supposed to be, and in fact he found him gently pushing a little girl, reassuring her with sweet smiles and calm words. Of course his brother never changed.

When Virgil noticed that Scott was back, he looked at him smiling. "Hey, you want to get pushed on the swing too? I offer free service to anyone who asks please and behaves well!"

"Do you think that's the case, Virge?"

The crowd of small children around Virgil also began to crowd Scott, greeting him with their little hands and introducing themselves.

"Hey, didn’t you say you were getting a beer?" Virgil’s voice made its way through the hundreds of voices that spoke to him, and they reached his ears loudly.

"I decided to change my plans. I got you one too."

"Oh, it’s green apple! Good, I like it!"

"I knew it. I got myself a blueberry slushie." Scott answered, sipping on the straw and nodding. "It’s good."

"I’m going to sit down." Scott said after talking to the ten children who had gathered around them. Virgil nodded and then resumed rocking the child of before, who now laughed happy. Scott sat on the bench of before, but this time there was also a woman sitting at the opposite end of the bench. Without trying to get too noticed, he began to observe the person who was sitting next to him. Her eyes were closed, but every now and then she opened them up and looked around; she looked very young, perhaps in her twenties. She had dark, loose hair and a fringe covering her forehead. The way she was dressed gave Scott something to think about: she was wearing clothes larger than a couple of sizes for her, and very shabby. He wondered where she could come from...

He looked up from her clothes to try to look at her face, and only at that moment he realized that the girl was looking at him with her eyes wide open.

"Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to stare at you!" Scott stammered an apology between the surprised and the embarrassed. The girl instead moved her face, looking back in front of her, or rather around her; she was looking for something, or maybe someone.

"You’ll have a rescue soon." said the girl in a feeble voice, without looking Scott in the face. Scott, for his part, had assumed the same vitality as a plaster statue, and had not noticed that Virgil was behind him. And that even Virgil had heard the same words he had heard. How the hell did that girl know what job they were doing? And how did she know they were gonna have a rescue coming up?

Scott found himself gasping, trying to kick out a few words, but strangely the event surprised him. That girl surprised him! The confidence with which he had said it was disarming..

And while Scott could not find the words to speak, Virgil found them all. "I’m sorry, miss, but how do you know the profession we do? How can you be so sure of thi-" but before he could finish talking he was interrupted by none other than his communicator.

And while Scott who, in addition to the vitality of the chalk had also taken the color, Virgil was passing a hand in his hair nervously.

"You will see that it is nothing..." the voice of the minor seemed more distant to him, a sign that Virgil was moving away from them.

The only thing Scott couldn’t figure out was why he couldn’t face that damn girl. Why couldn’t he take on the role of commander, take matters into his own hands and face that girl? Surely it had to be a spy of the Hood...yes, it may be. Maybe it was just a novice spy who had let slip a little too much information. And maybe the fact that she planned a possible rescue was because maybe Hood was going to attack someone to get to International Rescue.

"D-don’t try to confuse us," he said, "We know you work for the Hood. You won’t get any information from us, know it!"

The girl turned slowly, the fringe covering one eye. "Who?"

Fuck! That girl didn’t know about the Hood, and he could tell by her confused expression. He said more than he had to! Among the various thoughts that he had in mind another suddenly flashed. _But if she is not a spy of Hood...then who is this girl?_

Virgil returned shortly after, and as he walked towards the two he was looking at the girl with being suspicious. "We have to go, Scott. Someone...needs us."

Scott suddenly got up, as if the bench he was sitting on was burning. He looked one last time at the girl who was staring at them, but just as she was about to turn around she spoke again. "Only 2 of 3 will survive." Her voice was more feeble than ever, as if she were about to lose her breath, but the sentence just said came to the ears of the two brothers as strong as a pile of bricks in the face.

Scott lost no more time and grabbed Virgil by the arm, pushing him a little further away from the girl, giving their backs to her.

"Virgil.. Do you think we should take her with us? Question her?"

"I don’t know. She might be a medium, or a fortune teller who can see into the future."

"Yeah, but we didn’t ask her to! What if he exposed International Rescue publicly?" Scott stopped to think for a second longer. "Before, I let Hood’s name slip away, but she didn’t know him."

"Do you seriously fear that she will ally with the Hood?"

"That, and also that Hood will be able to kidnap her to serve himself of her powers. The fact that she can see into the future makes her an easy target."

"That may be. Miss, would you mind- what the-?" When Virgil turned to talk to the girl again, he found himself facing the empty bench. The person who was sitting there before had vanished into thin air.

"She can’t have gone far! We just have to look for her!"

"We can’t. There’s someone who needs us now, we don’t have time to waste." Virgil grabbed Scott’s shoulder, and shaked it slightly as if to awaken him from his thoughts.

The eldest remained watching the empty bench for a few seconds, and then nodded and ran away from the park with Virgil, at full speed to the ships they had left at a certain distance, to avoid the eyes of the citizens.

"Does John know about this girl?" Scott asked, already equipped and seated in his pilot position, inserting the coordinates that Virgil had sent him.

"No, Scott" replied Virgil via communicator, also equipped and ready to go.

"Better tell him then." Scott unnecessarily grumbled, and the two Thunderbirds departed in unison.

Finally, Scott had told John about this girl, and he shared his own doubts, namely that Hood could capture her if he discovered her. EOS, which had been requested by John to look for something more about this girl, replied that she had found nothing in any database.

"I had imagined it. We didn’t ask her first and last name, and not to sound rude, but judging by the way she’s dressed, she definitely doesn’t live in a house. Better not to think about it.. Anyway what’s the situation?" Scott asked, snorting.

"So..." John began.

A couple of hours later the three workers trapped underground were freed, albeit with considerable effort; all three were seriously injured, so they were taken to hospital.

"It doesn’t seem to me that one of the three is dead; of course, he is seriously injured, but the other three are too!"

"What we have to consider is that we arrived on time, and that, even with some damage, all three are safe. Calm down, Scott, and don’t let this thing dig your skin out. Probably the girl from before was just trying to make fun of you.." Virgil replied in a reassuring tone.

"Nice way to make fun of someone else!" Scott huffed, getting out of the hospital and heading to Thunderbird 1. "Let’s go home, that’s better."

"FAB."


	2. Part II

"Virgil! Virgil!" Scott entered Virgil’s room whispering, trying to make as little noise as possible. He rushed to his bed and shook Virgil by the shoulders, trying to wake him up.

"What the fuck do you want at this hour? Do you realize what time it is?" Virgil moaned still half asleep, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He took a quick look at the watch, and then frowned. "Seriously, what the hell do you want?! It’s 3:00 in the morning!"

"One of the 3 workers died tonight! That girl was right!"

"Oh God, don’t tell me that- Oh Christ, you’ve been up checking on those 3 all this time? And more importantly, do you still believe those stupid words?" and then, as those words had entered his mind late, he raised his eyebrows confused. "Wait...did you just say that one died?"

"Yeah! He couldn’t make it through the night! He’s dead! It’s our fault!"

"What the hell are you saying, Scott?! It wasn’t our fault!"

"Yeah! If we hadn’t waited, those three people would all be safe!"

"No, that's not true! Rather...since you checked out those workers, do you know any other news about the death of the third?"

"No, but our presence was requested, as we were the last to save him. That’s what woke me up. And for the record, I wasn’t checking on those three."

"All right then. Give me time to get dressed and I’ll come down, you wait for me downstairs."

"That works for me, I think I’ll go make some coffee."

The two quickly drank the coffee that Scott had prepared, and departed on Thunderbird 2 faster than light. The two arrived in a short time at the hospital where the three workers had been taken, and between various indications and wrong directions they finally arrived in front of the room where the three were hospitalized.

As they crossed the threshold of the room, however, they were welcomed by a GDF troop, as well as a team of doctors who had just finished to fix the bed where the third person was located, unfortunately deceased. The other two were not in good condition; they were both lying in two cots, one opposite to the other, and a myriad of pipes invaded their pale and cold bodies.

Scott felt his legs failing and, unwittingly, sat down on the bed that the nurses had just finished preparing; it was still warm. Scott tightened his fists so hard that he felt his hands tremble through the gloves of the suit he was forced to wear. Never before had he felt so uncomfortable wearing the suit with the logo that everyone admired.

Usually no one had ever died after their rescues; of course, there were serious injuries, but this had never caused problems at International Rescue. "Why were we called here?" He asked, stiff as wood.

"Don’t worry, Scott, you’re not in danger. It’s just routine." Colonel Casey made her way into the ranks that were assembled there, her smile kind despite the very serious situation. "We couldn’t find his family, and while he was still conscious, he didn’t tell us anything. You two were the last people to help him; didn’t he say anything to you, anything at all?"

"Unfortunately not. But...it might seem strange, but..." Scott paused for a moment to look at Virgil, who tilted his head to one side, his smile soft. "...that day we talked to a girl. She looked like she was homeless, and she seemed pretty worried. I don’t know how, but she predicted our future. She predicted that we would have a rescue soon, and she also predicted that one of the three would...die. We don’t know her identity, though."

"A girl...predicted all this? Strange...we will look deeper into this situation. You’re free to go, and I’m sorry we disturbed you at this time of night."

"Wait! Do we know anything about the worker’s cause of death?"

"No. They’re still doing the autopsy on the body. When it’s complete, you’ll be the first people to know."

The two made a face that looked like 'it’s our job', then shook hands with the Colonel and got out of the room quickly and then out of the hospital.

Scott had a hunch.

"Virgil, you go ahead and wait for me, I...I have to go somewhere."

"FAB. Try not to be too late."

Scott nodded, and then took the path he had taken before. Ironically, the hospital was right next to the park where they had been the previous afternoon. The park gate was strangely open, so Scott didn’t have too much trouble getting in; he found himself quietly wandering around in that park that was full of joy the day before. Now it was just an empty and dark park, with no children’s voices and laughter of joy. During his silent walk he touched the swing during which, the day before, he had been almost attacked by a horde of children; he touched with the tips of his fingers the slide and the other games of the playhouse, and then stopped in front of the bench.

She was there, as if she had never left. He didn’t know that finding her would be so easy for him.

"I anticipated your arrival." she whispered, and Scott found himself thinking that her voice was by nature feeble.

Now he has to choose what to do from now on with great caution; he did not know what he was going through, what she had reserved for him. With apparent calm, actually quite nervous, with a dry gesture he made sure to turn off the communicator that he had on the sash and helmet, and then walk slowly towards the girl who, although she was looking into his eyes, did not seem to be afraid of him. Cautiously he sat on the bench, in the same place and position he had taken the day before, legs joined and elbows on his knees, the palms of the hands sunk in his cheeks.

He was going to talk, but he was preceded by her. "What a strange position."

"Hm?"

"I expected that because you don’t know me, and so you don’t know if I’m hiding a weapon or if I can kidnap you, you’d be nervous, and you’d sit up straight and be ready to snap if I ever move abruptly."

"I’m nervous, but that doesn’t mean I can still ground you if you do something abrupt."

The girl paused briefly, looking at him, and then moved her head slightly to one side. "What would you like to ask me?"

"Haven’t you already anticipated this? Isn’t that why I’m about to ask you that you were expecting me?"

"For once...I’d rather hear it said than expect it." 

"What does that mean?" Scott couldn’t help but ask.

"What would you like to ask me?" the girl repeated, and Scott understood that he would not receive any answer.

"Many things. I would like to ask you many things."

"Start, then. I’ll pretend I don’t know all the questions you’re about to ask me."

Scott was able to distinguish the trace of a smile hidden in the hair that covered her face, and even he could not help himself from smiling.

"What’s your name?"

"Lisa."

"I finally know you a little better, Lisa." 

"But I don’t. Your name?"

 _I thought she knew..._ "Scott."

"Hmm."

"Where do you live?"

When Lisa pointed with a bony finger to the hospital from which the two had just come out, Scott felt his blood freeze in his veins. "For...what-"

"AIDS."

He unintentionally covered his mouth with his hand. "I’m sorry."

"I'm not. After all, I was able to do most of the things I set out to do when I grew up."

"Do you have a family?"

"And you?"

Scott thought about it for a moment."No."

"No."

"How do you have such a special gift?"

"I was born with it. The causes of why I can see into the future are still unknown to me."

"Do you feel lonely?"

"Yes."

Scott took a deep breath. "Are you afraid of dying?"

The answer came late. "Often."

They both remained silent for a handful of minutes, when Lisa looked up at the stars.

"You know," she said after a few minutes, "you asked me questions quite different than I expected. I thought you’d feel sorry for me, but you didn’t."

"And it bothers you?"

"Not at all." followed by a "thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because that’s what happens when you get sick. People who are not neglect us, or worse, pity us, because suddenly we become weak, dependent on someone, maybe even stupid. If I apologize or say thank you to the nurses who treat me for disturbing many of them, they think I’m stupid, but they don’t understand that I’m really sorry that I have to depend on someone sometimes, when I’m really weak. But it’s okay...Some people are worse off than me, so I can’t complain."

Those words hit Scott like a slap in the face. And the worst part was that everything she had just said was absolutely true. Sick people hear all too often phrases like "I’m sorry," "I don’t like to see you like this," and sometimes all they’d want to hear would be someone engaging in a normal conversation with them. Now he understood what Lisa meant before, with the phrase "For once...I’d rather hear it said than expect it.", yes, now he understood. And he knew that she felt happy about the conversation they just had. That was all he wanted to know from her, that she was confused for another kind of person.

Lisa sighed and then returned to look Scott in the face. The two did not say anything, they remained only to look at each other; Lisa however immediately shifted her gaze to a figure that stood still on the threshold of the gate.

"Scott!" Virgil almost shouted, a great contrast to Lisa’s weak voice, striding heavily toward the bench. "You had me worried! Why did you shut down communications like that? - Oh, you’re the girl from last time."

Both rose from the bench, the girl with a little more slowness and difficulty.

She stretched his hand toward Virgil. "Pleased, Lisa."

"Oh..." Virgil found himself whispering, looking first at the girl’s pale outstretched hand and then at her face. "My pleasure, Virgil."

"All I ask is a favor, and then I won’t bother anyone again." she said after the presentations.

"Tell us."

"Don’t reveal my name or..." she turned to look at Scott "...my position at GDF. I don’t like them."

"We, in fact, I, am sorry I told them, but before I spoke to you I thought you were a threat to us, since you-"

"-I knew what you do for a living. I know."

"I promise we won’t reveal anything."

Lisa smiled and then looked at the floor. "The third worker had liver cancer; he was terminally ill, and was destined to die. He just wanted to finish a project before he died. I know because...he told me. He got special permits from the government. He doesn’t have a family indeed."

"Is it possible that the government gives you such special permits, even if you’re dying?" Virgil asked, suspicious.

"If what you have to do makes a big difference between life and death, yes. I would have done the same."

"Come on. What those three were doing was building a sort of center!"

"To be more precise, a research and detention center for rare, incurable and terminal diseases. Even if it was all theory, it would still save a lot of lives. And well, it has to start from somewhere, someone. I’m sorry I kept you here so long anyway. I see you have a lady who’s worried about you, and she’s been up waiting for you. I don’t want to take up any more of your time."

"Thank you. We’ll be home soon. Make sure you get...home, safely."

Lisa smiled a little bitterly. "Yeah, my home...Goodbye." But instead of leaving, she stood back on the bench, looking at the two brothers. 

Scott greeted her with a nod, and then walked towards the gate, Virgil following him a bit confused.

They had returned almost in a flash to the hospital, where Thunderbird 2 was 'parked'. The journey home, however, was quite quiet. After a while Virgil could no longer hold back; he set up the autopilot, the home road already inserted in the coordinates, and turned to his older brother, who was looking out of the portal. "But who is this girl?" he simply asked.

Dawn was peeking out from the surface of the sea, illuminating the island to which they were approaching, coloring the dark mountain profile of gold, making it warmer, cozy and soft to two of its inhabitants, who were just returning home.

A golden and powerful ray of sun illuminated Scott’s eyes, which made him blink by instinct, though he continued to look out.

"A very special girl..."


End file.
